New website “I say STOP !”

ECPAT Belgium is proud to announce the launch of its new website “I say STOP!” on November 6th in the presence of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, M. Didier Reynders.

More than a news platform, this website is to become a real tool to fight sexual exploitation of children. Among other things, it will allow Belgian travelers or tourism professionals working abroad to easily alert on sexual abuses of children that they could witness.

i-say-stop

But this new tool will benefit from even more potential ! Five actions, like the five fingers of the “I say STOP !” hand are to be offered to anyone willing to act against violations of the rights of the child : I report, I intervene, I testify, I support and I relay.

“I say STOP !” will take over, with innovative form and content, the old website “Stop Child Prostitution” and is directly mentioned on the pioneering European alert platform www.reportchildsextourism.eu.

This website is an initiative of the STOP Group, composed of the Police, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of Justice, the Tourist Industry Federation, the Belgian Carriers Federation, Plan Belgium, Child Focus, the Samilia Foundation and ECPAT Belgium. It has been developed by Now.be.

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4th EU Civil Society Platform Against Trafficking in Human Beings (21-22 October)

On 21-22 October, ECPAT Belgium attended the EU Civil Society Platform Against Trafficking in Human Beings in Brussels. The aim of the meeting was to make public the last three reports from the European Commission and to prepare civil society recommendations for the next EU Commission Strategy post-2016. The two-days seminar was introduced by speeches from Member States representatives who declared themselves eager to take a stronger stand against trafficking in human beings.
Capture d’écran 2014-10-29 à 14.51.51

The Commission presented the Mid-term report on how the European Commission implemented the EU strategy towards the Eradication of Trafficking in Human Beings 2012-2016.

The Commission also presented a second statistical report on trafficking in human beings in the European Union. Key findings list more than 30 000 victims in the 28 EU countries between 2010 and 2012, of which 80% were female & 69% were trafficked for sexual exploitation and including over 1 000 trafficked children.

The civil society organisations worked also together to make a list of recommendations on a wide spectrum of areas to update and improve European legislation as for after 2016.

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Train the Trainer and Regional Consultation, 8-11 October, Freiburg

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In the framework of the Don’t Look Away project, ECPAT Belgium has participated to Train the Trainer meeting organised by ECPAT Germany in Freiburg (8-10 October). The aim of the meeting was for the ECPAT groups to learn new methodologies in order to train the private sector on the issue of child sexual exploitation.

The seminar was particularly useful, as ECPAT Belgium is preparing training sessions for the staff of the ACCOR hotels, on how to detect and deal with cases of sexual exploitation committed by their clients within their structure.

 

Participants of the ToT and Western Europe Regional Consultation

Participants of the ToT and Western Europe Regional Consultation

 

In the perspective of the ECPAT International General Assembly (December 2014), the Western Europe Regional Consultation was held also in Freiburg (10-11 October), gathering all ECPAT groups coming from the Western part of Europe. The aim of the meeting was to set up the priorities and strategies of the region for the 3 years to come.

 

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Recommandations du réseau EU Kids Online

Le réseau EU Kids Online vient de publier les résultats d’une enquête menée de 2011 à 2014, au sein des 28 pays membres de l’Union européenne et portant sur les expériences et pratiques des enfants en ligne. Il apparaît que 38% des 9-12 ans ont un profil sur un ou plusieurs réseaux sociaux, bien que cela soit interdit avant 13 ans. Cependant, seulement la moitié d’entre eux seraient capables de changer leurs paramètres de confidentialité ! Encore plus alarmant, 30% d’entre eux auraient également été en contact avec une personne qu’ils ne connaissaient pas.

 

Final recommendations for policy

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

EU Kids Online propose une série de recommandations qu’ECPAT Belgique soutient totalement et met en oeuvre dans sont projet Make-IT-Safe. L’accent doit être mis sur l’éducation des enfants entre eux et sur l’apprentissage d’un comportement proactif vis à vis des dangers, effaçant leurs messages ou bloquant les contacts indésirables, afin de sécuriser leurs informations personnelles. En parallèle, le rapport recommande de porter l’attention aux enfants sur l’importance d’agir lorsqu’ils sont témoins d’intimidations sur Internet.

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Brochure for parents to discuss online safety with their child

In the framework of the Make-IT-Safe project, the ECPAT groups have created a leaflet for parents. It contains some practical advice for parents in order to discuss the online behaviour of their child. Open communication, social media, online image, etc. are among the topics to be found in the two-page brochure.

 

Brochure parents Make-IT-Safe

Beside being very simple and concrete, the innovative aspect of the brochure is that it exists in numerous languages: French, Dutch, German, Serbo-Croatian, Arabic, Turkish, Romanian, Russian, Bengali, Hindi, Punjabi, Urdu and Vietnamese.

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New data on violence against children

Hidden in Plain Sight report
UNICEF just released a new report (Hidden in Plain Sight: A statistical analysis of violence against children) on violence against children worldwide. The results are shocking.
Around 120 million girls under the age of 20 worldwide (about 1 in 10) have experienced forced intercourse or other forced sexual acts, and one in 3 ever-married adolescent girls aged 15 to 19 (84 million) have been victims of emotional, physical or sexual violence committed by their husbands or partners.
“Violence against children occurs every day, everywhere.  And while it harms individual children the most, it also tears at the fabric of society — undermining stability and progress.   But violence against children is not inevitable. It is preventable — if we refuse to let violence remain in the shadows,” UNICEF Executive Director said.  “The evidence in this report compels us to act — for the sake of those individual children and the future strength of societies around the world.”
Source: UNICEF
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Inaction over Rotherham trafficking highlights culture of impunity

Scandal in Rotherham, abstract of the ECPAT UK blog

The latest scandal of another UK town’s failure to respond adequately to widespread sexual exploitation of its children highlights an endemic issue across the United Kingdom. In communities throughout our country, including Oxford, Rochdale and Newcastle, we have been confronted with overwhelming evidence of repeated and multiple failures to prevent child abuse and protect children.

The Rotherham authorities, whose job it is to protect and safeguard those most vulnerable, failed to react to exploited children as victims of serious abuse. Despite all of the shocking revelations of the past few years, statutory agencies continue to disregard the horrific and coercive conditions of abuse – often seeing these children as perpetrators themselves or ‘troublemakers’. Some have even gone so far as to hold the children themselves accountable for what has happened. This culture of disbelief has to end before thousands of more lives are damaged and ruined.

Child victims of trafficking and exploitation are often unable to recognise that they are victims, blaming themselves for the abuse they suffer. They have been groomed to think that their worth is valued by sex and degradation. Such attitudes are only compounded by authorities’ failure to act and inability to provide protection.

More information : ECPAT UK website

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Child sex tourism via webcam : a disturbing new trend

Webcam child sex tourism is a new form of sexual exploitation of children and has been increasing recently, facilitated by the new technologies (Internet, TOR network), globalisation and the economic crisis. The physical, psychological and social consequences are as catastrophic as the other forms of sexual commercial exploitation of children. An appropriate legislation, as well as an effective coordination are essential to raise awareness of the general public and inform all sectors that are likely to be in contact with predators and child victims.

July 30 as the First World Day Against Trafficking in Persons

imgresThe UN General Assembly officially designated July 30 as the first ever World Day against Trafficking in Persons. This day is meant to raise awareness, improve coordination, and promote the rights of victims of human trafficking. Trafficking in persons is defined as the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, or harbouring a person through the use of force, fraud, or coercion, with the intent to exploit. Individuals may be trafficked for purposes such as forced labour or commercial sex. The UN also urges countries to ratify and implement the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime and its Protocol on Trafficking in Persons.

ECPAT Belgium supports the World Day Against Trafficking in Persons and advocates for the millions of individuals who are affected. This form of modern day slavery is an extreme violation of human rights. ECPAT Belgium specifically works to support the rights of the child and those affected by child prostitution, child sex tourism, child pornography, and child trafficking. It is important to recognize that children are particularly vulnerable to exploitation, especially those that are homeless or come from abusive backgrounds. UNICEF estimates that approximately 2 million children worldwide are exploited through commercial sex. The consequences of this crime are extremely severe and devastating. By taking measures to increase public awareness, collaborate with authorities, and strengthen legislation to promote the rights of the child, commercial sexual exploitation against children can end.

 

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The Convention on the Rights of the Child, 25 years later : successes and challenges in the fight against sexual commercial exploitation of children

This year marks the 25th years of the Convention on the Rights of the Child. But yet, has it made effective progress on the fight against sexual commercial exploitation of children in Belgium ? Many factors – such as new technologies, globalisation, increasing tourism and the economic crisis – challenge this fight. How does Belgium tackle the issue ? This analysis sheds light on the Belgian legal situation, but also on the measures that have been implemented. It questions the challenges that our country faces and the potential solutions that could help fighting, in a more effective way, those violations of the rights of the child.